May 10

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. — Isa 55:8-9 BSB

It’s a good thing that God’s ways are not like ours. For example, if God’s forgiveness were like ours, it wouldn’t help us much. We hold grudges, remember every slight, and allow bitterness to poison our love. We may say we forgive, but often, we still hold resentment in our hearts.

But God’s forgiveness is far greater than ours. He forgives the worst sinners, the greatest sins, and countless transgressions. In the parable, it was God who forgave the enormous debt of ten thousand talents, while it was a man who refused to forgive a small amount owed to him. God’s forgiveness is one of the most amazing things in the universe, and we should be thankful for it—because if it were any less, we couldn’t be saved. Once we receive this forgiveness, we should allow it to transform our hearts so that we reflect its spirit.

We pray, “Forgive us as we forgive others,” but if we truly mean this, we need to pay attention to the way we forgive. Are we showing the same kind of grace that God has shown us? If we have experienced God’s full, boundless forgiveness, it should change the way we forgive others.